Feline Affectations
by satbiym
Summary: When Todoroki moved into the apartment complex, he was ready for noisy neighbors and large heating bills. But he wasn't prepared for green-eyed boys with smiles like sunshine and The Cat. AKA: How Todoroki Learned to Stop Brooding and Love the Heat.
1. Chapter 1

Todoroki bit back a sigh as he eyed the narrow staircase and compared it to the width of the one thing he had managed to smuggle out of his father's house.

Yeah. The Eames lounge chair was _not_ going to fit through the stairwell.

He should have just settled for stealing the chair from IKEA, it would have been easier to manage. But, then again, the IKEA chair wouldn't have achieved the same results.

Shouto closed his eyes, ignoring the problem in front of him to remember the sweet memory of his father's face, flush with barely restrained anger, as his pride and joy left his house. And that too, under the arm of his disgrace of a son.

Shouto smiled slightly, lost in nostalgia.

"Um, excuse me?" A timid voice cut through his tender reminiscing.

Shouto opened his eyes slowly, silently spooked that someone had managed to sneak up on _him_. He berated himself, he should have been more careful. For the first time in his life, he was on his own, without the might of his father behind him, lots of people would be looking to take advantage of that perceived weakness.

Shouto had to be careful, now more than ever.

He fashioned his face into a look of disinterest, ready to face whatever the stranger would throw at him, and turned to look at the speaker.

And kept looking.

 _Green._

Shouto cursed himself for not being able to come with anything more scintillating than _green._ He, who had once been praised for his skill with brisk but comprehensive descriptions of situations, could only think of a single _color_ when faced with some bright-eyed stranger while they stood near a stairwell in an building situated in the shadier side of the city.

They stared at each other, the stranger's freckled face slowly coloring the longer they stood in silence with locked eyes.

A beat.

The stranger cocked his head, the movement making the riot of green curls on his head flutter about delicately like a bird's wings, and took Shouto in. The large, clever eyes surveying the scene like a scientist, wordlessly drawing his own conclusions.

Shouto stood next to his too-expensive chair, in his too-expensive clothes, and looked at the green-eyed stranger in his ratty All-Might hoodie and well-loved vivid red boots, and felt distinctly _out-of-place_. Despite his familiarity with the feeling of _intruding,_ the frequency didn't diminish its intensity, leaving Shouto, who had yesterday very publicly left the only home he had ever known, feeling like an unwelcome guest at a birthday party. He could feel the strain of the past few days and the impossibility of the couch-staircase situation catch up to him, leaving his soul beleaguered.

Shouto clenched his right fist, and summoning up the last dredges of willpower he usually saved to get in one last Hail Mary shot when sparring with his father, stared back defiantly, silently daring the stranger to say anything.

The stranger looked back, green eyes somehow more somber than before, and pushing his hands in his pocket, rocked back on the heels of his ridiculous shoes.

Shouto inwardly preened with pride.

 _That's right. Back away._

But then the stranger did something that knocked the mental smirk out of his head.

He _smiled_.

Shouto blinked at the sudden brightness on the stranger's face, heart stuttering in surprise, as the other boy laid bare his soul to a stranger with the enthusiasm in his eyes and the crinkling of his cheeks with the force of his emotion. Shouto felt almost scandalized at the display of overt emotion, with an outrage akin to a Victorian marm catching a glimpse of her ward's ankle.

"Hey there! You must be Shouto!" The smiling boy said, his tiny frame still leaning away from Shouto. However, what he lacked in height, he made up by sheer _presence,_ his words filling the previously stale air with vibrance and energy.

Shouto frowned as his brain then computed the words the strange boy had spoken, backing away slightly, and he coolly said, with suspicion barely held abay, "And _why_ must I be him?"

The boy's smile dimmed slightly, previously confident mien curling inward at Shouto's tone, "I - The landlord told us to expect someone with, um, _interesting_ hair in the next few days. I suppose you may call me your welcoming committee." He said, drawing his open arms up to his shoulder in a universal gesture of welcome, while forcing out light, awkward laughter.

Shouto hummed, his brain filling in the rest of the story. He stared back and pulling the tight knot in his tie loose, said crisply, "So, the landlord told you to welcome a _half-and-half bastard with a bad case of hipster hair,_ and you agreed?"

The other boy blanched and fiddling with his hands, said in a small, questioning voice, "Yes?"

Shouto bit back a sigh, wondering when the boy was going to reveal his hidden agenda to Shouto. It was taking longer than Shouto would have expected, considering the nerves the other boy was displaying. It was almost as though he didn't _have_ an ulterior motive.

Which was ridiculous.

"So!" The boy said, jumping a bit in his spot, exaggeratingly brushing off his hands, staring at the nearby elegant couch looking forlorn and out-of-place (much like Shouto imagined he himself looked) "What do we have here?"

"A couch." Shouto said blankly. Unamused.

The boy hummed, still surrounded by energy that seemed to make him look like he was vibrating, and looked at the elevator with the "It's Broken. Pay more rent or use the stairs and lose some weight." sign. Shouto especially liked the accompanying sign with the beautifully drawn caricature of the landlord with devil horns and mustache, with a speech-bubble connecting the two signs.

The boy then looked at the narrow stairwell and eyed the couch with a considering look that raised the hair on the back of Shouto's neck for some reason. Shouto hurried to say, "It's okay, I can -"

Shouto's sentence trailed off, eyes bugging out, as the tiny green-eyed boy leaned forward and, easy as can be, lifted the couch in the air.

Shouto resisted the comical urge to rub his eyes in bemusement, suddenly unsure about the chain of events that had lead him up to this moment right here. For surely, that hadn't just taken place. There was no bloo-

"Coming?"

Shouto looked up only to see the boy, who now had the couch _tucked under his arm_ , smile down at him from the second step.

Shouto blinked and in absence of further options, followed along as the boy talked about something or the other, mind still focused on the impossibility of the events currently occurring.

"S-Shouto?"

Shouto looked up blankly, still bewildered.

They had reached his floor.

Shouto frowned, "How did you know this was my floor?"

The boy coloured, looking more like a blushing ingenue than a man capable of lugging about a couch with the same stats as an adult man, and quickly said,"I figured this must be it. This is the only apartment that doesn't, or I suppose, didn't, have a tenant!"

Shouto nodded, still suspicious. But in the spirit of assistance ignored it, at least until the couch was _inside_ his apartment, and said "Thank you, uh-" Shouto stumbled, frantically trying to recall the other boy's name.

The boy smiled, brighter still than the overhead, cheap fluorescent lights, and said, "Midoriya. Midoriya Izuku. But call me Izuku, all my friends do, and I have a feeling we will be great friends!"

Shouto highly doubted that, bright smile and functional muscles notwithstanding. He doubted he would be volunteeringly seeing this boy in any capacity in any way except for awkward greetings when stumbling across the other in the hallway.

But apparently it wasn't _polite_ to point out the fleeting nature of human societal bonds to other people. Apparently the secret to successful social interaction was to enter in a mutual delusion of continued familiarity.

Whatever, Shouto didn't get it, and he doubted he ever would.

And even Shouto wasn't willing to break the truth about the ephemeral nature of human contact to this bright-eyed boy, especially since there was a large possibility he was one of the unlucky few who genuinely believed in the meaningless rituals of societal bonds.

If this boy chose to live in a bubble his whole life, Shouto wasn't the one who was going to be responsible for popping it.

So, Shouto nodded politely.

Even though he doubted he would ever be calling on Midoriya " _Call me Izuku"_ Izuku anytime for anything more than a cup of sugar, and maybe not even then.

"'Zuku?"

Shouto turned to see a quizzical looking brown-haired girl emerge from the apartment opposite to his. Her eyes ran over Midoriya and then landed on him, stopping to look at him appraisingly.

Shouto raised an eyebrow at her.

She giggled, to his confusion. Was _everyone_ in this building _on_ something? Something that made giggling the only option to greeting surly strangers? Shouto worried for these people.

"You must be Shouto!" She said, almost levitating in the air with the force of her excitement.

Shouto's eyelid twitched.

Midoriya, probably sensing the incoming snowstorm, quickly put down the couch and stepped in front of the girl, and said loudly, words tripping over themselves in his hurry to say them, "Shouto! This is Ochako Uraraka!" He paused, as if that name was supposed to mean anything to Shouto, and continued, "Ochako, this is Shouto, _my new neighbor_!"

Shouto blinked. Then, getting a foreboding feeling in his chest looked at the apartment opposite to his.

The door was slightly open, but even from here, Shouto could read the long, offensively yellow and red name-plate in which sat the words "Midoriya Izuku," cheerfully displayed against the deep brown of apartment door. The door that was, to Shouto's inexplicable horror, right opposite his own.

"So," The boy in question said cheerfully, unaware of the loud sirens going off in Shouto's brain, gently placing a hand on Shouto's couch, "Where do you want me to put this, _neighbor_?"


	2. Chapter 2

Later, if Shouto was ever asked about the key moment which triggered the events that flipped his humdrum, ritualistic, ennui-filled life upside down, he would tell them all the same thing.

 _It all started with The Cat._

* * *

"Frost! To your right!"

Frost turned his head to see the third villain attempting to run away. He shot his hand out, enveloping the villain in ice.

"Well, that was a bit overkill, Frost. But can't say it didn't get the job done." A dry voice said, its owner lightly jogging to where Shouto stood. The bunny ears of the other hero's mask was flopping with every step he took and Shouto, for some reason, couldn't tear his eyes off of them, entranced despite himself.

"But then," The other man said, grin evident despite silver mask covering the lower half of his face, "You never did do things halfway, _Frost._ "

* * *

Shouto spent the first night at his new apartment enveloped in a battle for dominance.

 _Don't blink._

Shouto didn't know why and when the staring contest with some mangy stray had become so pivotal to his existence…..but, he thought grimly as he used his quirk to ease the burning in his eyes, he knew that this challenge was one he couldn't afford to lose. Not if he wanted to be able to use his balcony anytime in the foreseeable future.

This was a battle for territory, and Shouto, who had never had anything or any place he was proud to call his _own,_ was not in the correct mindframe to be a gracious loser.

He resisted the urge to hiss at his foe, knowing that that would be a step too far, even for this instinct-driven fiasco.

He was going to **win**.

There was no other option.

"Um…."

Shouto could feel the hair at the back of his neck rise with deja-vu at the timid voice. He resisted the urge to turn his head and look at the (second) intruder, unwilling to move from his position. He'll get the hint and go away, he hoped.

"S-Shouto, I - um - "

Shouto resisted the urge to huff; he wasn't going away.

The stray's eerie yellow eyes peered at him, willing him to back down, to pay attention to the other human.

 _Well_ , _cat,_ Shouto thought derisively, _you have another thing coming if you think you'll win so easily._

Without moving his head, Shouto answered drolly, as if he wasn't standing in the cold evening air in nothing but his thread-bare pajamas and prescription glasses, having a staring contest with a cat the size of two full-sized adult cats, "Yes, Midoriya? You need something?"

Shouto waited for the ridicule, the jeers, the laughter. For surely from his position on the ground floor, directly below Shouto's balcony, he must be getting front row seats to the show Shouto was involuntarily putting on. Shouto wouldn't have even blamed him. Boys like Midoriya, the pretty, muscular types with cute girls waiting for them in their apartments, had no idea what Shouto's life had been like. They had no frame of reference to understand Shouto's everyday life, for boys like Midoriya, so free with their emotions and name, lacked the essential experiences that made up the tapestry of boys like Shouto's lives, which taught them to be cautious first, to narrow their eyes and look for hidden motives; to eye and question, rather than smile and smooth.

Boys like Shouto didn't become friends with boys like Midoriya. Their experiences were too different for that to occur. There was no way to translate between their worlds, to reach a place of shared understanding, which, Shouto was given to understand, was essential for anything meaningful.

Shouto pursed his lips, ready for Midoriya's incoming words that would surely effectively slice through any potential for an amiable future.

"I didn't know you wore glasses!" A voice with barely restrained enthusiasm said, with every word vibrating with concentrated fervor.

Shouto, in his surprise, blinked.

The cat, who had till then been silently judging the whole scene, yawned, fangs flashing triumphantly at Shouto, who reared back in alarm; he was not prepared to lose his head in addition to his balcony. The cat stretched, seemingly content with her victory of the day, and in a movement that sent Shouto gasping, leapt lightly from the balcony of the first floor apartment to the ground floor.

Forgetting himself, Shouto ran to the edge of the balcony only to see the cursed feline land nimbly on her feet.

He gaped.

 _God, I wish I could do that._ Shouto cursed himself for the impulsive longing, it wouldn't do to admire the enemy, especially not one who he had lost face to.

But even his mental admonishment couldn't keep his eyes from missing the way the cat stalked up to Midoriya, like a queen with her subjects, slowly brushing her head against the boy's pants. She circled around him, still rubbing her face into the fabric of his pants, and after she was satisfied, walked away.

Shouto resisted the urge to point at the boy (who had been caught red-handed, guilty of collusion with The Enemy!) accusingly, knowing that sometimes the thoughts in his head didn't translate well to those strangers to it. But the accusation was felt, burning his heart and clouding his mind.

He glared hotly at Midoriya, who was still staring sopily at the cat as she walked away.

Figures.

Midoriya turned back, a small smile still on his face, only for it to dim at the expression that must be on Shouto's face.

Good. Be intimidated. _Someone_ should be.

He glared harder.

However, Midoriya, to his credit, bounced back, voice gaining the enthusiasm Shouto was afraid was becoming all too familiar to him, and said "I see you met Purr-Might!"

Shouto, not for the first time in the evening, felt defeated, the unexpected chain of events shattering even his famed resolve. He wondered, suddenly tired beyond repair, if the eccentricity of the recent events was because of _his_ rotten karma, or if it followed Midoriya like a magnet.

"Purr-Might?" He said blankly, not even caring about the answer, just…..tired.

Midoriya bounced in his place, the bags in his hands jingling with the movement, "Yeah! The cat? She's like our building's mascot. Isn't she a _sweetheart_?" He concluded with fondness lacing his last word, making it somehow sweeter and heavier at the same time.

 _Fuck that._

Shouto felt scandalized at the thought that _that_ beast, who could probably single-handedly defeat the League of Villains themselves, could be considered by _anyone_ to be anything other than a satanic murder machine. He had seen the way she had eyed him when flashing her demonic fangs at him.

 _Fuck_ _that_ _._

Shouto stared at Midoriya for want of anything to say. Midoriya seemed to sense his thoughts, weakly smiling up at Shouto, as he said, "Anyway! It was probably fate that I met you here, I was actually going to come by and ask you if you would like to come by and have a dinner type thing at my apartment? It will just be me and a few close friends, but it's alright if you are busy or whatever, I'm sure a guy like _you_ has a lot of things to do. But-"

Shouto, unable to compute the sudden barrage of words that were tripping out of Midoriya's mouth and too tired to make the effort to further their interaction, said in a clipped tone that stopped Midoriya dead in the middle of another confusing sentence, "Midoriya."

Midoriya's eyes widened comically, and Shouto wondered if he was always this expressive or if Shouto was just extra-sensitive to him.

(Probably the former, considering that "sensitive" and Shouto didn't exactly co-exist harmoniously, not if his annual HR reports were any indication.)

But ruminations about his emotional intelligence aside, Shouto had a green-eyed boy to get rid of. Shouto looked down at the hopeful face and said, "I'm sorry. But I am afraid I must decline, I find that I have a headache tonight and will not be good company. Please accept my apologies."

Shouto blinked as he stared at the sunken face, dark with disappointment; he had seen sunsets that left more light behind.

"Oh! I'm sorry for keeping you! I'm sure you must be tired after everything. Please, accept my apologies, and I hope you feel better." Midoriya said, clearly making a concerted effort to inject his regular cheer back into his voice. But even Shouto, for all his obliviousness to human emotion, could feel his disappointment like a physical wound.

He felt bewildered, like he had entered a parallel dimension. He had never seen anyone _disappointed_ for being deprived of his company. Shouto had thought that Midoriya was being kind or trying to further his agenda by inviting Shouto to dinner, but the disappointment - still evident on the boy's face - felt all too real.

Shouto, for reasons unknown, felt a pang in his chest as he watched the other boy smile, noticeably lackluster compared to his usual expression of happiness, and enter the building, leaving behind a noticeably empty space in Shouto's vision.

And if Shouto stared for longer than needed at the spot where Midoriya had stood, lost in thought…. well, that was between him and the pavement.


	3. Chapter 3

The next day when Shouto opened his front door, he almost tripped over the paper bag containing headache medicine and packaged noodles.

\- Frost felt a tinge of suspicion as the villain he had chased into the alley smiled slyly.

"You shouldn't have followed me here, _Hero_ , especially not without calling for backup. Because, while it seems you might have forgotten to call your friends, I, however, have not forgotten to invite _mine."_

Frost forced his face to maintain its evenness as five other villains melted out of the shadows, joining the villain he had foolishly chased by himself, away from the main fight.

He was overpowered, outnumbered and without allies.

 _But_ , Frost thought, _he wasn't done yet._

He released his first blast of ice, effectively encasing a villain.

The fight went on for what seemed like hours, but was probably minutes, with Frost fighting tooth and nail against the villains, with no help in sight. Until eventually, Frost fell to the ground, glaring at the villain who had downed him, as the villain laughed, "Not so heroic now, are you? Down like some alley-cat, and just as helpless."

"Actually, I've found that cats, especially of the alley variety, to be more fearsome than most of the so-called villains I've met. You should meet the one in my building. I don't know if that speaks for the quality of cats, or that of the villains around here."

Frost's eyes widened at the sound of the familiar voice. An air blast surrounded him as the villain standing near him blew away from the displaced air. His vision was suddenly filled with _green,_ as the hero standing above him offered a hand up to Frost.

Frost took it.

Together, they faced the villains who were starting to stand up and take their positions. Frost looked at Deku, the hero from the agency that was a direct competitor of his own, who, despite it, had looked for him and had saved him. Deku looked back, his eyes determined.

The villains charged.

But with Deku there by his side, there was no real challenge.

Later….

Later, when they were sitting shoulder-to-shoulder in a first-aid vehicle waiting for the clean-up crew to finish their work, Deku bumped his shoulder with his own, and said, in a gently chiding voice, "It's not a shame to ask for help you know….Especially not if the help needed is in service of others. It doesn't mean you aren't competent, it just means you need some help to do your job the best way you can. That's not a weakness."

Frost nodded, feeling golden warmth blossom in his chest.

\- The days passed quickly, leaving behind memories with the consistency of molasses: thick, hazy and confusing. With no father to haunt his every step and no surprise "training sessions" to keep him alert, his days were almost idyllic in nature; But with nothing but his job to occupy his time, Shouto was, to put it simply, _bored._

Shouto bit back the urge to sigh as he stood in his kitchen looking around emptily. The kitchen looked back, surprisingly free of past stains and damage.

A loud crash interrupted their uneasy detente. Shouto, this time, gave into the urge to sigh, pinching the bridge of his nose with his fingers.

That cursed cat was at it again.

If Shouto's life was an anime, then that cat would be the twirly mustachioed antagonist that must be defeated for Peace to be achieved. Shouto longingly thought back to the days where he was free from meddlesome, and yet surprisingly ferocious felines who ate his _carefully cultivated_ plants and left trash and dead animals in the balcony for Shouto to find the next day. Sure, it wasn't perfect, what with Endeavor and all, but at least his plants had been safe! (Mostly because he planted them in the one place Endeavor wouldn't think to look: his mother's bedroom)

Now there was no peace to be had, not for him, and not for his poor, innocent plants.

And all because he had lost that thrice-damned staring contest that first day when he was still green, unknowing of the things that were at stake in that battle.

Shouto narrowed his eyes, ice sweeping up his arm, leaving it covered in crystals that shone like diamonds, and stared at the balcony where a large shape could be seen lumbering towards his plants.

Well, we'll see how the big bad kitty liked a little water bath.

Shouto moved towards the balcony, determined to teach the feline the consequences of what happened when someone messed with Shouto, only when he opened the balcony door with a loud, theatrical bang, he stopped short in surprise and alarm.

This wasn't the cat he had come to know and begrudgingly coexist with. Though the same size, this cat had matted dark fur instead of the light brown of the Hellbeast.

The cat let out a mrowl at Shouto's entrance.

Shouto, who had been clutching the door-frame for courage, felt foolish. He stepped forward, to chase away the cat, no way was he letting some other cat also lay siege on his poor balcony! Next thing you know, they'll kick him out of his own apartment.

But at Shouto's step, the cat hissed dangerously, fangs showing, and she lifted her head up to eye Shouto suspiciously.

" _Oh._ "

Shouto felt a trembling feeling shiver up his spine. Those yellow eyes were familiar; Shouto had spent more time than he'd care to admit staring into them after all.

The cat on his balcony was The Cat, after all.

He eyed the fur that had belied her identity, confused. Why was it… Shouto gasped as he saw tiny bloody, smeared footprints leading up to where the cat was snarling.

That wasn't fur, it was _blood._ Something had hurt the cat so badly that her fur was matted in blood. Shouto wondered if it was _her_ blood staining her coat, or someone else's.

The cat kept snarling, eyes flashing at Shouto, a wounded animal, hurt and bloody, but ready to go out swinging, not yet done.

Shouto felt his heart resonate at the sight, and reached forward, unable to bear the sight of a creature in pain when he was nearby.

The cat almost slashed his arm off.

Shouto stumbled back, repressing his battle-ready instincts to ice the assailant, and felt adrenaline rush through his body, as he analyzed the situation.

What was he going to do? He had no idea how to respond to this situation. Should he call someone? Animal control? What should he do?

Shouto mentally shook himself, this wasn't the time to spiral, no matter how weak the snarls were sounding by the minute, or how dull those razor sharp eyes were looking.

 _If you can't handle the situation by yourself, there's no shame in calling for help._

Shouto steeled himself, he had to call for help.

 _But who?_ Shouto wondered; He had never before regretted his lack of social support, neither wanting nor understand the need for it. But, he thought as he eyed the spitting cat a few feet away, this wasn't just about himself. He had to think beyond himself.

Shouto backed away, running through the names of people who would know how to handle the situation only to come up short.

The cat let out a loud noise, one leg giving out underneath her. Shouto watched helplessly as she seemed to careen to the side, unable to go closer. She struggled, wide eyed and ferocious still, somehow managing to stay upright by sheer will alone.

She stood, bloodied and wounded, and stared back with the might of a soldier, daring Shouto to even _try_ to take advantage in her moment of weakness.

But Shouto was struck silent at the look in her eyes. He remembered seeing the same look in All-Might's eyes when _he_ was beaten down and without options, but still stood tall and proud. With silent dignity that no villain could strip away.

No wonder she was named after -

Shouto stopped thinking.

He turned around and ran, throwing open his front door.

Midoriya was smiling when he opened the door; The smile widening when he saw Shouto, eyes brightening with an emotion Shouto couldn't identify.

Shouto didn't know what emotion was showing on his face, but it must have been revealing enough to make even Midoriya's ever-present and luminescent smile disappear, and for him to say in a surprisingly familiar voice that rang with authority, "What happened."

Shouto felt his heart calm a bit despite the all-too-familiar adrenaline coursing through his body, at the feeling of safety the voice managed to instill in him, almost Pavlovian.

Strange.

Shouto blinked, this wasn't the time to be obsessing over some boy's voice, he said, words clipped but quick, like he was delivering a mission report, "It's the cat; She's hurt badly."

Midoriya's face hardened.

He laid a hand on Shouto's shoulder, and said gently, with a smile that managed to imbue Shouto with warmth and hope, "Don't worry Shouto, it's all alright now. I am here."

And Shouto, for the first time in a while, _believed.  
_


End file.
